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that a country can only grow on a sustainable manner through its own locally generated
resources. This is the only sure way to safeguard a country’s independence, and enhance
sovereignty and national pride.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Five years ago, we set on an ambitious path of reforms and modernisation of our
processes and procedures. The reform agenda envisaged to weed out a few people who
were used to the status quo, from their comfort zones characterised by paper pushing,
cutting corners and rent-seeking behavior. The beneficiaries of the inefficient,
bureaucratic and unpredictable state of affairs viciously resisted our reform and
modernisation program. In fact, some of them went as far as sponsoring street
demonstrations against us.
Looking back to those acrimonious days, one wonders whether those opposed to our
programs really understood what they were opposing, in the first place. Today, none of
them wants to go back to the manual, unprofessional and unpredictable processes of those
years. The KRA’s reform and modernisation program has registered impressive results
in terms of drastic reduction in cargo clearance lead times, leveling of playing field for all
businesses and enhancement of professionalism in tax administration.
Ladies and Gentlemen
As the international trade continues to grow in complexity, and the world more insecure
arising from activities of terrorists, the need to enhance the capacity of Customs has
never been more urgent. The reforms at the port of Kilindini, and other areas of entry and
exit are therefore, not only aimed at facilitating the international trade, but also enhancing
the capacity of our country to detect harmful substances and weapons that might
endanger the welfare of our people. We have also taken deliberate steps to enhance our
capacity for surveillance with regard to international terrorist activities. These activities
are being handled concurrently with the other responsibilities of Customs, namely;
collection of international trade statistics and revenue collection.
Other departments have also undertaken reforms, aimed at enhanced service delivery to
the taxpayers. The curving out of the Large Taxpayers’ Office (LTO) from the Domestic
Taxes Department (DTD) in 2006 was aimed at providing specialized services to
taxpayers based on their unique needs, in terms of size, contribution to revenue and
sector. The LTO concept has tremendously improved specialisation, and through the
taxpayer segmentation approach, facilitated better understanding between the tax
authorities and taxpayers.
Similarly, introduction of the Turnover Tax (TOT) targets small taxpayers who face
tremendous challenges with regard to cost of compliance, record keeping, and their
migratory nature. The TOT has simplified tax payment, and ensured that small taxpayers
are not subjected to requirements that only apply to large taxpayers. This has ultimately
reduced costs involved in determining tax liability and filing tax returns, and improved
compliance of this sector. The success of TOT will depend, to a large extent, on the
willingness of the small taxpayers to co-operate with revenue officers. My appeal to you
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